Restoring Health: body, mind and spirit

October Baby a Quiet Hit

By The Rev. Dr. Ed Hird

How many of you are October babies or have October baby children? My children’s birthdates are in March, June and November, and I and my wife am born in January and August. So no October babies for us.

This past month the Deep Cove community was privileged to have the first BC showing of the acclaimed film October Baby. We were pleasantly surprised by the great interest shown and wide variety of people who turned up for the first viewing. For those of you who missed the first presentation, we anticipate October Baby being shown again on the North Shore. It has just been released as well in DVD and Blu-Ray edition. You can obtain your own copy online .

October Baby is a surprise hit opening at No. 8 against THE HUNGER GAMES and other big-budget movies, although opening on half as many screens. October Baby ranked No. 3 in per screen average sales. The film earned more than $5.3 million at the box office, appeared on page A-1 of the New York Times and was named among Entertainment Weekly’s “15 Most Impressive Box Office Performances for 2012.” New York Times called October Baby a ‘quiet hit’. Film directors and brothers Jon and Andy Erwin have been amazed at the strong response to their film.

The movie begins with the heroine Hannah hesitantly taking part in her theatrical debut in college. Before her first lines, she collapses. Numerous medical tests all point to one underlying factor: Hannah’s difficult birth. This revelation is nothing compared to discovering that she was actually adopted with complications for an early traumatic birth.

Hannah is frustrated and baffled that her medical doctor father never told her that she was adopted. This cast Hannah into an identity crisis: “My parents are not my parents. I don’t know who I am. They lied to me. Whom can I trust?”

Hannah goes on a road journey with Jason, her oldest friend. Her dad was not pleased. In the midst of her incredible journey to discover her hidden past and find hope for her unknown future, Hannah sees that life can be so much more than what you have planned. I particularly appreciated the way that Rachel Hendrix played the part of Hannah. It was engaging, believable and transformative. My hunch is that Rachel has a great film career ahead of her.

Everytime I have watched October Baby, I found myself weeping. It is an amazing story of healing, forgiveness and reconciliation. Hannah was told: “You have the power to forgive, to choose to forgive. Let it go. Hatred is a burden you no longer need to carry. Only in forgiveness can you be free, Hannah…if the Son shall set you free, you will be free indeed.” October Baby is really a love story with a surprising ending. If I tell you any more, I will spoil the story.

My prayer for the those reading this article is that we will all be reminded that life is beautiful.

The Rev. Dr. Ed Hird, Rector

BSW, MDiv, DMin

-an article for the October 2012 Deep Cove Crier

-The sequel book Restoring Health: body, mind and spirit is available online with Amazon.com in both paperback andebook form. Dr. JI Packer wrote the foreword, saying “I heartily commend what he has written.” The book focuses on strengthening a new generation of healthy leaders. Drawing on examples from Titus’ healthy leadership in the pirate island of Crete, it shows how we can embrace a holistically healthy life.

– In order to obtain a signed copy of the prequel book Battle for the Soul of Canada, please send a $18.50 cheque to ED HIRD, 102 – 15168 19th Avenue, Surrey, BC, V4A 0A5. For mailing the book to the USA, please send $20.00 USD. This can also be done by PAYPAL using the e-mail ed_hird@telus.net . Be sure to list your mailing address. The Battle for the Soul of Canada e-book can be obtained for $4.99 CDN/USD.

I am the Rector of St. Simon's Church North Vancouver, B.C., having served there since 1987. Ordained in 1980, I have also served at St. Philip's Vancouver and St. Matthew's Abbotsford. My wife Janice and I have three sons James, Mark, and Andrew. I was the Past President and Chaplain for Alpha Canada. While serving as the National Chair for Anglican Renewal Ministries of Canada, I was one of three co-signers of the Montreal Declaration of Anglican Essentials http://www3.telus.net/st_simons/arm05.htm
For the past 31 years, I have been privileged to write over 400 articles as a columnist on spiritual issues for local North Vancouver newspapers. In the last number of years, I have had the opportunity to lead conferences and retreats in Honduras, Rwanda, Washington State, BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland, and Toronto.
My sequel Restoring Health: body, mind and spirit, with a foreword by Dr JI Packer, is online with Amazon.com in both paperback http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/097820221X/ref=redir_mdp_mobile and ebook form http://tiny.cc/tanhmx .
In Canada, Amazon.ca has it available in paperback http://tiny.cc/dknhmx and ebook http://tiny.cc/wmhmmx .
It is also posted on Amazon UK (paperback and ebook ), Amazon France (paperback and ebook), and Amazon Germany (paperback and ebook).
Restoring Health is also available online on Barnes and Noble in both paperback and Nook/ebook form. Nook gives a sample of the book to read online: http://tiny.cc/vj3bmx . Indigo also offers the Kobo ebook version: http://tiny.cc/kreonx . You can also obtain it through ITunes as an IBook: http://tiny.cc/1ukiox
The book 'Restoring Health: body, mind and spirit' focuses on strengthening a new generation of healthy leaders. Drawing on examples from Titus' healthy leadership in the pirate island of Crete, it shows how North Americans can embrace a holistically healthy life.
In order to obtain a copy of the prequel book 'Battle for the Soul of Canada', please send a $18.50 cheque to 'Ed Hird', 102-15168 19th Avenue, Surrey, BC V4A 0A5. For mailing the book to the USA, please send $20.00 USD. For more info, please click on www3.telus.net/st_simons/nsnews030.html